May 7, 2018 - You Can't Be Anything You Want To Be; But You Can Do What He Has Called You To Do!

I have been teaching/preaching a lot lately… one of the key themes, (that fits well with our worship team that has been very busy), has been the challenge to not sit unchanged when we encounter the living God! A phrase I have used time and again is “rise up or fall down, but don’t just sit there!”

I have been sharing from Exodus 3 where Moses encountered God at the burning bush… God had a specific plan (commissioning) for Moses to “go” and tell Pharaoh to set the Israelites free…

Most that read this weekly devotion claim to have encountered the living God… and if so, have also been given a specific plan (commissioning) to “go” and “preach the gospel…” (Mark 16:15)  and “make disciples” (Matthew 28:18-20.)

Moses, in spite of the directive from God, still was initially unwilling to go… he felt inadequate to carry out the plan… he felt he was not a good enough speaker.

Many of us struggle at times with feeling inadequate to fulfill our calling… we do not feel good enough, prepared enough, or worthy enough…

What God tells Moses is classic… He doesn’t build Moses’ self-esteem and tell him that he is a great speaker… He doesn’t give Moses a motivational speech that he can be anything he sets his mind to… (in fact, He doesn’t really address Moses’ view of himself at all… almost as though God was saying, without saying, “yeah, you’re right… you are not a great speaker.”)

Our culture is so bent on motivational-speech; we tell kids they can be anything they set their minds to. But the truth is that there are some things we are simply not good at… just because you say you are gonna be a great athlete, doesn’t mean you genetically have any athleticism. Don’t get me wrong here, I believe our goal should be getting the most out of what we’ve got; yet some people simply have got more.

Sometimes upon hearing that we are all called to go, the result can be to start comparing yourself to others and think you need to be a great speaker or a great singer or a great writer… and like in Moses’ case, you may be right… you may not be good at those things, but God has still commissioned you!

So where does one’s confidence come from to “go”? God made Moses a promise and He has made you, and me, a promise.

Exodus 3:12 “…I will certainly be with you…”

Matthew 28:20 “…I am with you always…”

Our confidence is not in self, but in Him! Now go… there is no excuse… the God of the universe is on your side and going with you!